Wheeled conveyor



Nov, 18, 1947. R. H. oBRn-:N 2,430,945

WHEELED coNvEYoR Filed Oct. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-'Sheet 1 r di INVENT'ORR/CHARD H. OBR/EN ATTORNEY Nov. 18, 1947.

R. H. oBRlEN WHEELED CONVEYOR Filed Oct. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGBFIGA

INVENTOR R/CHA RD GBR/FN.

BYC W TORNEY Patented Nov. 18, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'WHEELEDCONVEYOR Richard-HOBrien, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Application October 22, 1945, Serial No. 623,684

e-oiaims. (ci. 19e- 233i v This invention refers to conveyors andparticularly to a belt type thereof supported upon a frame which ismounted on wheels for easy moving from place to place.

With the advent of large sized aircraft requiring the storing ofmaiL'eXpreSs or baggage in the forepart of the ship there was created aneed for a device which would load articles of the type named into suchaircraft rapidly and economically and with a minimum requirement oflabor and/or supervision. Various devices of this type have beendeveloped including a number of previously known wheel mountedconveyors, but they have not been entirely satisfactory. To besatisfactory for this type of use the conveyor must be readily movableby a single workman or attendant, it should be self-lifting to thedesired position and the movement to such position should be capable ofclose and accurate control, it should insofar as possible beself-contained and last, but not least, since it will normally be infull view of passengers boarding the airplane it should have anattractive appearance.

Accordingly, the principal object of my invention has been to provide awheel mounted conveyor which can be easily and quickly moved into adesired position.

A further object of my invention has been to provide such a conveyorwhich will carry within itself suitable means for raising its operatingportion automatically into a desired operating position.

A further object of my invention has been to provide such a conveyorwhich will be strong and durable and yet have an attractive appearance.

Other objects and purposes of my invention will be apparent to thoseacquainted With equip ment of this type upon an examination of theaccompanying drawings and reading of the following specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side, somewhat schematic view of my improved conveyorshowing in solid lines the conveyor in its extreme lowered position andindicating by dotted lines a portion of the conveyor and liftingmechanism in a partially raised position.

Figure 2 is a top View of my conveyor.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a sectional detail taken on line III-IIIof Figure 1. l

Figure 4 is a broken, plan view of the area between the forwardsupporting wheels showing the mounting of the hydraulic cylinder.

Figure 5 is Va top view of the conveyor raising mechanism with the partin section being taken online V-V or Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a section taken on line VI-VI of Figure 3.

In providing a conveyor to meet the above outlined purposes I have flrstprovided a side frame l of tubular material.V A rst `part of the sideframe includes a pair of parallel horizontal members 2 and 3 joined bysubstantially semi-circular end members 4 and 5. A second part of theside frame is provided by a similar partial unit including thehorizontal members G and 'l ccnnected at one end by `a curved end member8 and connected to the rst named section by the other end of member `6and by the curved part 9. Short lengths lll and H further the connectionof the second part of the frame to the rst part. This frame isduplicated on the other sideof the ccnveyor and the two side frames land la are connected by suitable horizontal tubular connecting elements.

This type of side frame provides an attractive appearance and yet byreason of its unique construction it is very strong and durable.Further, it is made from tubular material by merely bending same toprovide the rounded ends and can easily be welded so that thefabrication proceeds rapidly andeconomically.

This frame is supported by wheels lil and l5 mounted in any convenientand conventional manner upon an axle I3 (Figure 4) which is preferablywelded to the horizontal members 'l and la of the side frame. The otherend of the frame is preferably supported by a pair of relatively smallwheels of which one is shown at i6 which are mounted on means to renderthem pivotable around a common center and controlled by the handle Ilwhich can be picked up by a single person to push or pull the conveyorinto a desired position.

Suitable conveyor mechanism I21 which Vmay be of conventional form, ismounted above the described frame elements. Said conveyor has a bodypart I8, extending side guards I9, a driving wheel 2E] and an idlerwheel 2|, and a conveying belt 22. The conveyor is mounted near itsrearward end on one side by a frame member 50 mounted pivotally to theframe member 3 by the plate 5I and further mounted by similar parts onits other side. The conveyor driving mechanism (not shown) may be any ofvarious conventional types but is advantageously an electric motor,energized from any convenient source, mounted on the underside of theconveyor body part and suitably connected by gears or chains to thedrive wheel 2U.

The lifting mechanism comprises a pair of radius arms 23 and 23a and anhydraulic arm 2li. The radius arm 23 comprises in general a group ofelements presenting a triangular appearance from the side, one group oneach side of the conveyor, having a straight member 25, a partly curved.member 26 whose curved portion 2l completes the triangle. Supplementarybraces 28 and 29 may be used as desired. These members are pivoted ontothe main supporting frame in any convenient manner such as described inmore detail hereinafter. The outer ends of the radius arms 23 and 23aare welded to a tubular member 3l which latter` is mounted on a rod 32supported by a carrier 33. The carrier 33 supports a plurality ofsuitable rollers 34 in a manner to ride smoothly along a flange 35provided on the bottorri of the conveyor body I8. Whatever rollers areneeded may be used but a satisfactory installation can be made by havingone roller above the flange and two rollers below it, as shown in Figure6.

The hydraulic lift mechanism 24 consists of a cylinder 40 pivotallymounted on the axle I3. The spacers 52 and 53 encircle the axle betweenthe cylinder and the frame sidermembers and its counterpart 'la on theother side of the frame. Two braces 54 and 55 extend from the spacers 52and 53, respectively, to a band 56 encircling the cylinder 40. Thecylinder is supplied in any suitable manner by oil under pressurethrough a conduit 42. This cylinder contains and cooperates with asuitable piston so that when oil is flowing into the cylinder it willdrive forward the plunger 43. This plunger is affixed to the crossrod 32in any convenient manner, as by extending said cross-rod through anopening 4I in said plunger (Figure 3).

As best seen in Figure the elements forming the radius arm 23 dene inthe top View a further triangular pattern, Said elements may be affixedat their rearward ends by welding them adjacent each other near one end51 of the tubular member 58 which surrounds a supporting rod 59. Thissupporting rod is carried by plates 60 and 60a which are fastened as bywelding, respectively, within the semi-circle of the end 5 of the sideframe construction and the counterpart thereof on the other side of theframe (Figure 5). Any suitable conventional means 6l are affixed to theends of the supporting rod 59 for holding it against endwise movementout of its operating position. The curved member 26 is fastened at itsforward end, as by welding, near the inner end of said tubular member3|. All of these elements are duplicated on the other side of themachine as indicated in Figure 5.

As fluid, preferably oil, under pressure is forced into the cylinder4l), the plunger 43 is moved outwardly and causes the conveyor to belifted upwardly. The oil is forced into the cylinder by means which arepreferably mounted on the frame I and may conveniently comprise a highpressure oil pump 'I0 drawing oil from a reservoir 'Il and driven by anelectric motor 12 energized either from an external source or fromstorage batteries carried on the machine (not shown). This motor is, ofcourse, independent from the motor driving the conveyor and they areeach operated by convenient and independent switches, which switches maybe actuated by any conveniently controllable means such as an operatinghandle 39.

It will be understood that this entire unit can be easily moved by asingle workman or airport attendant manipulating only the handle Il.With the loading unit in place a switch is closed starting the motor 'l2driving the oil pump I5 to move the actuating uid into the cylinder 49and force the plunger 43 outwardly. This raises the conveyor to aposition such as is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. When theproper height is reached the motor is stopped and the fluid in thecylinder will hold the plunger in the position thus attained by whichthe conveyor is firmly 4 held at the desired elevation. The conveyorbelt may now be started in whichever direction is desired for loading orunloading the space being served, such as an airplane baggagecompartment, as may be desired.

In the foregoing described device I have disclosed a movable conveyorhaving self-operating lifting and conveyor driving mechanisms and whichwill meet the various objects and purposes above set forth. It will beobvious that many modifications may be made in the embodiment hereindisclosed and described without departing from the spirit of myinvention and that such modifications will be included within thehereinafter appended claims excepting as said claims expressly provideotherwise.

I claim:

1. In a wheel mounted conveyor a supporting frame comprising: a sideconstruction including first and second parallel members of equal lengthconnected to each other at their respective ends by a pair ofsemi-circular members, a third member parallel to the said two parallelmembers and of length substantially equal thereto located in the planeextended as defined thereby and oifset lengthwise with respect thereto;a fourth member parallel to the foregoing named parallel elementsabutting one of said curved semi-circular members and extendingtherefrom a distance equal to the lengthwise offset of said thirdparallel member and a semi-circular element connecting the adjacent endsof said third and fourth parallel members; a curved element connectingthe other end of said third parallel member with said second parallelmember.

2. In a wheel supported conveyor a body frame having a side panel,comprising: a tubular element forming an elongated member with roundedends; a second tubular element forming a second elongated element shapedas a partial member of the same size and shape as the first memberdisplaced laterally and longitudinally from coincidence therewith andlying in the same plane as said first member; said second member beingrigidly affixed to said rst member.

3. In a self-lifting wheeled conveyor the combination comprising: aframe; wheels supporting said frame; a conveyor pivotally mounted at oneend to a point near one end of said frame; a sliding element mounted onthe conveyor body in a manner to be movable in a direction longitudinalwith respect to the conveyor body but held against movement with respectthereto in any other direction; a radius arm pivotally mounted at itsone end on said frame at a point intermediate the ends of said frame andpivotally afxed at its other end to said sliding element; meansincluding a hydraulic cylinder and plunger pivotally mounted by its oneend to the said frame near the other end thereof and pivotally connectedby its other end with said sliding element; controllable means supplyingfluid under pressure to said hydraulic cylinder whereby flow of fluidinto the cylinder will drive its plunger and associated means outwardlyand raise the conveyor to a selected position.

4. In a self-lifting wheeled conveyor the combination comprising: aframe; wheels supporting said frame; a conveyor pivotally mounted at itsone end to one end of said frame; a sliding element mounted on theconveyor body in a manner to be movable in a direction longitudinal withrespect to the conveyor body but held against movement with respectthereto in any other direction; a radius arm pivotally mounted at itsone end on said frame at a point intermediate the ends of said frame andpivotally affixed at its other end to said sliding element; anelongatable member mounted pivotally by its one end to the other end ofsaid frame and at its other end pivotally connected to said slidingelement; hydraulic means controllably determining the selectivelengthening or shortening of said elongatable member whereby selectivelifting or lowering of the conveyor body may be effected- 5. In aself-lifting Wheeled conveyor the combination comprising: a frame;wheels supporting said frame; a conveyor pivotally mounted at its oneend to one portion of said frame; a sliding element supported by andassociated with the conveyor body in a manner to be movable in adirection longitudinal of the conveyor body but held against movementwith respect thereto in any other direction; a radius arm pivotallymounted at its one end on said frame at a point spaced from the pivotalmounting point of said conveyor and pivotally aflixed at its other endto said sliding element; an elongatable member mounted pivotally by itsone end to said frame at a point spaced from the mounting point of saidradius arm and on the opposite side thereof from the mounting point ofthe conveyor, and the other end of said elongatable member afxedpivotally to said sliding element; means controllably effecting theselective lengthening or 6 shortening of said elongatable member wherebyselective lifting or lowering of the conveyor body may be effected.

6. In a self-lifting portable conveyor, the combination comprising: aframe; ground engaging means supporting said frame; a conveyor having abody pivotally mounted at its one end to one portion of said frame; asliding member supported by the conveyor body in a manner to be movablein a direction lo-ngitudinal with respect to the conveyor body but heldagainst movement with respect thereto in any other direction; a radiusarm pivotally mounted at its one end on said frame at a point spacedfrom the point of mounting of said conveyor body and aiixed pivotally atits other end to said sliding element; an elongatable member mountedpivotally by its one end to a point on said frame spaced from the pointof mounting thereon of the radius arm and on the opposite side thereoffrom the point of mounting of said conveyor body, and said elongatablemember being pivotally aixed at its other end to said sliding member;means controllably effecting the selective lengthening or shortening ofsaid elongatable member whereby the selective lifting or lowering of theconveyor body around its point of pivotal support may be effected.

RICHARD H. OBRIEN.

